BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - One of UAB's top targets in the spring signing period is making an official visit to UAB on Thursday.

Williston State (N.D.) point guard Trey Dickerson set his first official visit with UAB and will fly from Williston to Minneapolis to Chicago to Birmingham and expects to get to UAB in time for Thursday's 8 p.m. game against Southern Miss.

"It's the first school I chose to visit because they've shown me a lot of love," Dickerson said. "Coach (Jerod) Haase is real serious about me. We talk about every day. He sends me hand written letters. I got eight today and he said about 30 more were coming."

On Feb. 2, the day after UAB had a tough home loss to East Carolina, Haase flew to North Dakota to watch Dickerson play and extend an official scholarship offer. Haase was back in Birmingham the next day to speak to the Birmingham Tip Off Club.

"Coach Haase comes at me real strong and tells me that I'm a need for their program," Dickerson said. "He wants me to come in and play the point, moving (starting point guard) Chad (Frazier) to the 2 so he can do what he's used to doing and score.

"He took five flights and drove nine hours. For a head coach to do that, that means a lot."

Dickerson has been well-traveled. His hometown is Queens, N.Y., but he graduated from Price High School in Los Angeles in 2012.

At that point, UAB assistant Rob Ehsan checked to see if Dickerson was available, but he wasn't qualified academically and went to prep school at God's Academy in Dallas, Texas.

Dickerson qualified late in 2013 and enrolled at Murray State, but left after the summer. He hadn't taken an official visit to Murray State since he qualified so late, but decided it was best to go to junior college for a year. Wherever Dickerson lands, he'll have three years left to play.

For Williston State, the 6-foot Dickerson is scoring 19.8 points per game with 5.9 assists per game.

"They've got Robert Brown and those other two bigs," Dickerson said. "Coach Haase said they need someone to come in, run the show and get guys the ball.

"I can score. For my JUCO, me scoring is a need. Wherever I go after this, I can be a true point guard."

Dickerson said he wants to take all five official visits and commit not long after the season. He said one visit will be to Nebraska, but he hasn't set a date. Dickerson also said Iowa is pushing for a visit.

"Everyone's kind of even," Dickerson said. "UAB stands out a lot because they've shown me a lot of love."

One factor could play in UAB's favor is that Dickerson and Frazier are close friends.